Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, may I present to you yet another science rap!

This latest addition to the ever-growing ranks of science raps is “Regulatin’ Genes” from two biologists at Stanford, Derrick Davis and Tom McFadden. Speaking to the New York Times, McFadden says that whilst the lyrics are original, the song is a parody of “Money Ain’t a Thang” by Jay-Z.

I must admit that unlike the classic LHC rap, I struggled a little in following all of the science, but perhaps that’s just because my biology knowledge is lacking!

The key idea here is Hox genes. These genes control, or regulate, the formation of the body. Without Hox genes your arms wouldn’t know where on your body to grow! For example, people who are born with extra fingers or toes have a mutated Hox gene.

In the official list of science raps, I think I’ll place Regulatin’ Genes a firm second behind the LHC rap. Can anyone knock the reigning champion from the top of the charts? These guys have some other raps, but Regulatin’ Genes is definitely their best so far. I’ll be keeping an eye out for any new material to see if they can have another crack at first place…